On 6 September, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte expressed regret for his expletive-laced tirade against US President Barack Obama.
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Even though Mr Duterte’s statement did not amount to an apology, the expression of regret is unusual for the tough-talking former mayor, who is unapologetic about his manner of speech and liberally peppers casual statements with profanities.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has also weighed in on the canceled meeting with a similar statement to the presidential office.
This is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and related simmits in Vientiane, Laos.
Obama’s deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, said the focus on Duterte’s comments leading into the summit had not created a constructive environment for a bilateral meeting.
The issue has long dogged relations between the United States and Laos, a cloistered and impoverished communist nation.
“Of course, the USA diplomats are not used to hearing a head of state integrating curse words in his statement, but we know our President, that’s how he speaks”, Pimentel said.
On Tuesday, Duterte said both sides mutually agreed to postpone the meeting.
The president, affectionately known to many Filipinos as “Rody”, also noted that 600,000 Muslim Filipinos, or Moros, were killed by USA military personnel during the pacification campaign that took place prior to the US withdrawal from the island.
A July poll showed Duterte’s popularity rating at 91 percent, despite the controversies surrounding him, which included the beginning of a huge surge in extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers and users since he was elected.
A statement from Duterte’s office Tuesday claimed the “son of the bitch” insult was aimed at the journalist whose question prompted the fiery response and not at Obama.
Duterte, who has quickly earned a global reputation for his acid-tongue, then used typically colourful language to describe their planned meeting if rights issues came up.
“I think he is more concerned about the welfare of Filipino workers than establishing a strong relation with an outgoing president”, he said when asked if Mr. Duterte’s statement would have any effect on Filipino workers in the United States, or on American investments in the Philippines.
“The spirit of reconciliation is what brings me here today”, said Obama to a crowd of 1,000 plus people, including Buddhist monks, in the country’s capital of Vientiane.
Mr Duterte made the intemperate remarks on Monday before flying to Laos.
To that end, Obama announced the United States would double its spending on bomb-clearing efforts to $90 million over three years – a relatively small sum in USA terms but a significant investment for a small country in one of the poorer corners of the world.
Human rights activists are hoping that Obama will speak about Ng’s husband, Sombath Somphone, who was picked up apparently by security forces on December 15, 2012.
Duterte earlier lambasted the United Nations after it criticized the surge in killings and he turned down a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Laos.
“An invaluable occasion to have our leaders meet for the objective of discussing how to strengthen our comprehensive areas of cooperation would have been a golden opportunity”, he said.
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